{"product_id":"5394","title":"Ophiolatreia:","description":"\u003cp\u003ean account of the rites and mysteries connected with the origin, rise, and development of Serpent Worship in various parts of the world, enriched with interesting traditions, and a full description of the celebrated Serpent Mounds and Temples, the whole froming an exposition of one of the phases of Phallic, or Sex Worship.\u003cbr\u003en.p. Privately printed. 1889.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003ePhallism\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 8vo. 194x122mm. pp. 103 [1bl]. Original cream paper covered boards, decorated with a red caduceus and lettered in red. Bevelled edges. Some slight soiling to boards, spine darkened and corners bumped. Internally very good. Edges uncut, offsetting to endpapers. Front pastedown has bookplate of Barry Humphries. \u003cbr\u003eAlthough published anonymously, Ophiolatreia is known to be the work of the Hargrave Jennings (1815-1890) who began his career as a writer with maritime fantasies and three-decker novels which combined his nautical and spiritualist interests. It is for the latter that he is now best known. A Rosicrucian and Freemason, he wrote widely on the occult and comparative religion. His principal contribution to these fields was a serious and important study of Rosicrucianism. Alongside this, Jennings developed the theory that all religions have their origins in the phallic worship of sun and fire. \u003cem\u003eOphiolatreia\u003c\/em\u003e is one of a number of books in which he expanded on this idea. Here Phallic or Sex Worship is found to lie at the root of Serpent Worship, an application of the theory which at least has the merit of some element of nominative determinism. Jennings's theory of \"phallism\" found few followers but he was a well known figure in Victorian London and is thought to have been the model for the Ezra Jennings, the part narrator and anti-hero of \u003cem\u003eThe Moonstone.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRef. 5394\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"[JENNINGS, Hargrave]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64979997720953,"sku":"5394","price":600.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/30.Jennings.Ophiolatreia.jpg?v=1792754403","url":"https:\/\/voewoodrarebooks.com\/products\/5394","provider":"Voewood Rare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}